


Itsy Bitsy Spider

by RisemboolRanger



Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: Action, F/M, Government, Humour, Multi, NSA, Romance, Undercover, double agent, life - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 19:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1277755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisemboolRanger/pseuds/RisemboolRanger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All secret agents have skeletons in their closet and Loren is no different. She's used to acting as a double agent in order to hide her secrets, but her newest mission is much bigger than anyone anticipated. Will she be able to keep fooling everyone or will her new team finally make her crack?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Casey vs. The Pizza Delivery Guy

"We are doomed to fail."

"What are you yappering on about now, Bartowski?"

"I'm talking about _you_. You tackled a pizza delivery guy right on our doorstep!" Chuck reminded the man who'd caused something of a stir at his home last night.

"That kid hadn't been checked for weapons or explosive devices," said Casey, not even looking up from the computer screen that he was currently surveying. "And he had an unidentified, electronically-produced heat source in his pocket."

"Which you learnt afterwards was a Nintendo 3DS on standby mode," Chuck pointed out condescendingly.

Casey shrugged. "Better to be safe than sorry. No harm done."

"No harm done? The guy had a broken pinkie and there's now four cheeses all over our wallpaper!"

"Collateral damage," Casey grunted.

Seeing the exasperated look on Chuck's face, Sarah quickly cut in. "You have been going a little overboard lately, Casey."

Casey wasn't in the least bit offended. "I'm just doing my job."

"Well, you're not doing very good at it," said Chuck, trying to ignore the death glare that Casey was now giving him. "I'm amazed your cover's even holding up still."

"Relax, Bartowski. Keeping your cover is the easiest part of the job."

"Then you're a bad spy," Chuck chastised. "Not you, Sarah," he quickly added to the blonde, who shrugged indifferently to cover a small smile, before turning back to Casey. "Ellie and Awesome are already starting to question why you're always around."

"I work at the Buy More and I live on the other side of the courtyard to you. It's not that weird."

"It is when you're throwing pizzas around our hallway!"

"Your cover _is_ shakier than mine," Sarah agreed. The whole pizza incident really had been a bit of a fiasco.

Casey shot her one of his killer stares. "Siding with him now, are we?"

Sarah coolly ignored the implication. "I'm just saying that you should be careful. As Chuck's girlfriend, my cover is pretty solid. More so than yours."

"I've covered work and living location. Short of trying it on with his sister, there isn't much more I can do," said Casey.

"You wouldn't..." said Chuck, outraged.

Casey actually looked amused. "Why; would it piss you off?"

" _Yes_ , it would!" Chuck exclaimed. "Plus she already has a boyfriend, in case you forgot."

"He's small fry. I could take him easily," Casey commented.

" _No_. No, no, you will not 'take' anyone!" Chuck protested, even though a tiny part of him was intrigued to see how a fight between Casey and Captain Awesome would go down. Casey may have been a trained special agent, but Chuck had seen Devon perform one too many pull-ups from the ceiling to not have faith in him too.

"Cut it out, Casey," said Sarah, who could tell that he was purely trying to get a rise out of Chuck.

"I'm kidding. Like I'd want _him_ for a brother-in-law anyway," said Casey, jabbing a thumb towards Chuck.

"Oh, that's so funny, I forgot how to laugh," Chuck replied sarcastically.

"Why don't you run along now anyway, Bartowski? We have work to do," said Casey, turning his attention back to the computer screen.

As Sarah mirrored his movement, realisation dawned over Chuck. "Wait, are you guys going on a mission tonight?"

"Well done. Maybe you're smarter than you look after all," said Casey shortly, pulling up an image on the screen.

Chuck's head suddenly swam and his eyelids drooped slightly as the picture of the man on the screen registered somewhere deep in his subconscious. A series of images flickered through his mind as he accessed the relevant information that was prompted by that first picture.

"Fulcrum agent, Leonard Helberg. Been wanted by the US government for almost eight years now. He's a bomb specialist, thought to have aided the vigilante group of terrorists in Minsk, Russia four years ago," he recited, as clearly as if he'd just read it from a textbook.

"We already know all of that," Casey dismissed him, clicking onto the next screen. It listed a whole page of information, including all of what Chuck had just said. "We've been tracking this guy for years now. _And_ we know where he's going to be tonight."

"I can still come with you," Chuck volunteered. "Maybe I'll flash on something else that you don't know."

"No, thanks," said Casey gruffly. "If I have a chance to go on a mission without you, then nothing is gonna change that."

Okay, Chuck could see that Casey was clearly a lost cause. As usual. He turned to Sarah instead. "Sarah?"

Sarah carefully avoided looking at him. "I'm sorry, but I think it's better if you sit out on this one. We believe he may have the prototype for a new nuclear weapon hidden somewhere. It's too dangerous for you to get involved."

"Oh, come on, how about if I just stay in the car?" Chuck suggested instead.

Casey looked at him as if he'd just sprouted a second head. "When do you ever stay in the car?"

"Hey, there's a first time for everything, right?" Chuck joked lightly.

"Sorry, Chuck," said Sarah, cutting across him. "It's just not happening. Not this time."

"Fine," Chuck conceded reluctantly. He'd thought that the days of being left out of the group activities would have ended with high school. Apparently not.

**XXX**

Chuck got home to find Devon trying to scrub salami stains off the wall in the hallway. He was pretty sure that it was a scene that nobody else had ever witnessed before. He was also sure that nobody else had ever gotten first-degree burns from hot cheese. Trying to catch a flying pizza apparently wasn't as clever an idea as he'd first thought in the heat of the moment.

"Hey, bro," Devon greeted him. "No hostile house guests today?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Chuck apologised. "Casey's kind of an odd guy... But he means well." He refrained from adding an 'I think' to the end of his sentence.

"It's cool, bro," said Devon, perfectly laidback as usual. "I never liked this wallpaper anyway. You may just need to sweet talk your sister a little more."

"Duly noted."

Ellie Bartowski could be a very frightening woman when she wanted to be. He'd need to proceed with caution for this. He left Devon to his scrubbing and found Ellie lounging on the couch and watching TV in the sitting room, still in her scrubs from work.

"Hey..." he said hesitantly.

"Hey," Ellie replied without looking away from the TV set.

Chuck sat down beside her. "I'm sorry about last night, El. And Casey says he's sorry too."

"It's not just about last night," said Ellie, still not looking at him. "I just want you to respect our home a little more and think about who you invite here. I've had to put up with Morgan for the last twenty-four years and that was doable. But you've also brought a drunken and unconscious colleague here before now. And I definitely don't want to have to put up with someone who's going to start fights in our own home."

"He wasn't starting a fight; it was just a misunderstanding," Chuck corrected her.

"Then it sounds like he misunderstands a lot of things. Morgan told me that he's knocked a customer unconscious at the Buy More on two separate occasions," Ellie pointed out disapprovingly.

"...Actually, he bumped that total up to three yesterday when someone tried to steal an iPod Touch," Chuck confessed. "But you don't have to worry about Casey, I swear. He only has good intentions."

"But don't you think it's weird that he hangs around you so much?" asked Ellie. "Even when you're with Sarah, he still seems to be there a lot of the time!"

Damn. Chuck hadn't realised quite how much his sister had picked up on. This was exactly the kind of compromise to Casey's cover that he'd been talking about earlier. And he wasn't quite sure how he was going to talk his way around it. "He just... likes to be involved, that's all."

"And that's not weird?" Ellie pressed. "Why would he want to be a third wheel anyway?"

"He's not a third wheel; he just wants to stay buddies with both of us," said Chuck, trying to sound offhand.

But it was too late. Ellie had latched on and she wasn't buying it. "But _why_ is he trying so hard? Why is it so important?"

"Look, Ellie, the truth is..." Chuck quickly racked his brains for a light-bulb moment, his gaze drifting towards the TV screen. It was showing some kind of mindless sitcom, with four too-perfect friends on a too-perfect double date. The light-bulb clicked on without him barely realising. "The truth is that Casey's involved with one of Sarah's friends... And he wants us all to double date."

"Wait, are you saying that Casey has a girlfriend?" asked Ellie, surprised.

"Err... Apparently," Chuck choked out, even surprising himself by the lie.

Now this was exactly why men couldn't and shouldn't try to multi-task. That definitely wasn't what Chuck had intended to say. The words had just fallen out before he'd even realised what he was saying. Watching TV and trying to have a conversation at the same time clearly wasn't a good idea.

"Oh... And you say she's one of Sarah's friends?"

"That's what I said," Chuck conceded grudgingly, still internally kicking himself. He had a feeling that this was all going to go horribly wrong.

"Huh." Ellie still seemed taken aback by the horrendous lie of a revelation, but she managed to regain her composure quite quickly. "Then in that case, why don't I cook dinner for the six of us on Friday?"

"Wait... wait, what?" spluttered Chuck, confused by the sudden turn of conversation. "The six of us?"

"Yeah. Me and Devon, you and Sarah, Casey and his girlfriend," said Ellie. "If the reason Casey's been acting so crazy really is because he's just trying to get you all to get along better, then why don't I just make things easier?"

"Oh, no, it's okay... You don't have to do that," Chuck hedged. Why did his sister have to be such a sucker when it came to helping out other couples?

"It's fine," Ellie assured. "We haven't all sat down to eat together in a while. And maybe a more civilised group date will stop Casey from feeling the need to knock pizza guys around."

"That's... that's great," Chuck lied between his teeth. "Thanks, sis."

That was it - he was totally screwed. Not to mention a dead man. Casey was seriously going to kill him when he found out... Way to go, Chuck.

**XXX**

To Chuck's amazement, Casey was surprisingly calm when the three of them met up at the base the following morning and everything was explained. "Well, there you go - you have the cover that you wanted. Now you just have to tell her that I can't do Friday. It's not rocket science."

Ah, so the reason he was calm was because he didn't fully understand the situation. "You don't get it. This is my sister we're talking about," Chuck pointed out. "If I tell her that you can't do Friday, then she'll want to do Saturday. Or Sunday. Or Monday... Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"I know the days of the week, moron," Casey growled. "Why's it such a big deal to her anyway?"

"I don't know; she's always had these high ideals about romance. I think she just likes to get involved and help match-make or something."

"It's true," Sarah agreed. "She wanted me to have dinner with all of them literally within days of hearing about me."

"Yeah, she's not gonna let this drop," Chuck continued. "Plus you live right opposite us, so she'll find ways to pester you about it too."

"Why is it always you who gets us knee-deep in this crap?" Casey complained.

"Well, maybe if you didn't act like such an uncontrollable brute, then I wouldn't have to lie for you."

"Why don't we speak to General Beckman about it?" Sarah interrupted loudly to get both of their attentions. "We may be able to get some outside help on this to strengthen Casey's cover."

"You mean get someone to pose as Casey's girlfriend?" asked Chuck sceptically, eyebrows raised. "Hey, wait, what about Carina? She already knows you guys - I'm sure she'd be happy to play along."

"We can't bring another agent in on the mission as we choose just because you screwed up, idiot," said Casey, who didn't seem very impressed by the idea.

"Plus Carina's already busy with a different mission," Sarah added. When Chuck gave her a questioning look, she said, "What? We have our own ways of keeping in touch."

"Fine, then talk to Beckman," Chuck conceded. Great. Bring someone else in on his idiotic lie.

"I tell you what; we'll even let you tell her the story," said Casey amusedly.

"Oh, yay, thanks for that," replied Chuck sarcastically.

Casey helpfully set up a secure video call to General Beckman, who Chuck then had to awkwardly relay the story to. As expected, she did not look impressed. Though to be fair, she never looked impressed about anything. Chuck was still determined to get a smile out of her one day. Just clearly not today.

"And why exactly did you tell this ridiculous lie and compromise Major Casey's cover in the process?" Beckman enquired sternly.

"Err, actually, I was _helping_ his cover," Chuck corrected her. "My sister was asking a lot of questions about why he's around so much... so I told her the first thing I could think of. In order to throw her off."

Beckman turned her scrutinising gaze onto Casey. "Is this true, Major? Was your cover already in danger?"

"Not necessarily true," said Casey smoothly. "All relative incidents were simply blown out of proportion."

"Out of proportion?" Chuck protested. "Maybe for you, but for a normal person they were perfectly _in_ proportion!"

"Hey, it's not my fault if your sister's a busybody who likes to weasel her way into everyone else's lives."

"Don't even try and involve my sister. This never would have happened if you were taught how to be more civilised in social situations!"

"Well, maybe _you_ should be taught how to lie better under pressure. Or better yet, not to say anything at all."

" _Enough_!" Beckman shouted over the two of them. "Mr. Bartowski, I hope you realise how vitally important these agents' covers are if you want them to be around to protect you."

That shut Chuck up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

" _If_ there's the slightest possibility that Major Casey's cover has been compromised, then it must be fixed immediately," Beckman continued. "I'm reluctant to pull him from this mission just yet, if it can be helped."

"So what are you suggesting, General?" Casey asked.

"I will be assigning another agent to Operation Bartowski," Beckman decided. "A female agent, of course. Her primary role will be to help strengthen your cover so that there are no more suspicions. Though I'm starting to suspect that an extra set of hands on this project may be beneficial after all... In which case, she will also be requested to join you and Agent Walker on further missions. She will be transferred in tomorrow."

And with that, the call cut off, leaving a blank screen. It didn't take a genius to know that General Beckman wasn't one for niceties.

Casey turned to glare at Chuck. "Thanks a lot, Bartowski. Now not only do I have to play happy neighbour and happy colleague, I also have to play happy families with you all too."

"Yeah, I really am sorry about that..." Chuck started, but Casey just growled and roughly pushed past him.

Chuck chose to bite his tongue. What he didn't add was that it wasn't really Casey he felt sorry for. Instead, he felt much more sorry for the poor agent who he'd be playing happy families with. Somehow, he didn't think it would be much fun to be Mrs. Tackles-Pizza-Delivery-Guys.


	2. Casey vs. The Hot Latina

Loren peered closely into the reflective surface in front of her, a pair of deep brown eyes staring back as she carefully applied eyeliner and mascara in turn. She then massaged an everyday moisturiser into her cheeks. Being an outdoorsy girl was good for a tan, but too much sun wasn't great for her skin in the long run.

Pushing her cosmetics kit aside, she set to work scraping her short hair back into smooth lines, leaving the bangs to fall free about her face. She then attached long black extensions, sliding them in as close to her scalp as she could before the pain became an ongoing distraction. Once they were safely in place, with no detectable difference from her own hair, she pulled the synthetic piece up into a high, no-nonsense ponytail.

She surveyed herself in the full-length mirror. She looked like a regular woman - smart, tidy and who took pride in her appearance. Her peplum skirt and short-cut blazer hid the gun holster and twin knife sheaths nicely. For the final touch, she slid an extra pop-up blade inside one of her ankle boots and then attached another to the underwire of her bra, just to be safe. You could never have too many knives.

"I hope you're proud, daddy," she told the mirror dryly. "All dressed up and armed to the teeth. I think I'm ready to meet my new boyfriend."

**XXX ~~~~**

**~~Chuck held the phone at arm's length from his ear as he doodled absently on a notepad in front of him, confident that the unnecessarily irate customer was still ranting away without pause from the nasal drone he could hear buzzing through the earpiece. He'd never been much of an artist, but his attempt at Pacman was at least recognisable for what it was. He couldn't say the same for his dog, elephant or Sonic the hedgehog.~~ **

**~~Morgan Grimes, Chuck's colleague and childhood best friend, halted as he caught site of Chuck's bored look and unusual method of conversing over the phone from a distance. "Are you still speaking to Big-Mouth?" he whispered, amazed.~~ **

**~~Chuck discreetly covered the speaker with his free hand. "Thirty-six minutes now. And counting."~~ **

**~~"Ouch." Morgan made a face. "Stay strong, man."~~ **

**~~Chuck saluted him as his friend continued on his way to harass a leggy redheaded customer, who was studying the display of headphones. He reluctantly returned the phone to his ear and waited for even the slightest pause so that he could force a response of his own into the so far one-sided conversation. In the end, he just had to cut across her completely. He could feel his brain cells in danger of dying off one by one. Plus his notepad was getting seriously overcrowded.~~ **

**~~"Ma'am, like I said, we need to determine the problem with your computer before we can decide if you need anything replacing _and_ if we even have the right spare parts for you. But we can't do any of that over the phone."~~ **

**~~But still the customer couldn't seem to grasp that the Nerd Herders would need to see the computer for themselves to know what was wrong with it. She ended up hanging up after another bout of complaining over the unhelpfulness of the staff, all because she was too lazy to bring her computer into the Buy More.~~ **

**~~As the line went dead, Chuck smacked the receiver several times against his forehead in a dull rhythm. Sometimes he really, really hated working in retail. The customer was not always right. Not by a long shot.~~ **

**~~"You know, they say that _is_ the magic technique for fixing electronics..."~~ **

**~~Chuck lowered the receiver to see a pretty Latina woman standing at the counter, watching him with raised, perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Trick of the trade," he replied. "Like blowing into old game cartridges."~~ **

**~~The woman nodded in amusement. "Or the age-old method: turning it off and on again."~~ **

**~~"Hey, these are Buy More secrets. How are you so savvy with them?" Chuck asked jokingly.~~ **

**~~She smiled. "I know my way around secrets."~~ **

**~~Didn't everyone who he seemed to be hanging out with lately? "So how can I help you?"~~ **

**~~"Actually, I was looking for John. Is he around?"~~ **

**~~Chuck looked at her in surprise. "John? You mean Casey?" What could this pretty young woman possibly want to do with Casey? Realisation then dawned on him. The new agent was supposed to be joining them today. "Oh, wait, you're... That means you're..."~~ **

**~~"Going to fall asleep waiting for you to finish your sentence?" the woman jibed, though she was smiling again.~~ **

**~~"Sorry," Chuck smiled back sheepishly. He pointed over her shoulder. "You'll find Casey over there. Green shirt, big bear of a man - you won't miss him."~~ **

**~~"Thanks!"~~ **

**~~As soon as the woman turned away, Morgan reappeared at Chuck's elbow. "Dude. Serious hottie alert. What was she saying to you?"~~ **

**~~"Sshhh," Chuck shushed him impatiently, not even looking at him. "I'm trying to watch the Casey in his natural habitat."~~ **

**~~"What are you talking about?" Morgan turned to watch the woman heading towards the kitchen appliance section too.~~ **

**~~Loren glanced back over her shoulder and saw that Chuck - easy enough to have picked out from his employee tag - and another, shorter guy with a beard were both watching her. Alright then. She turned back on her course and added more purpose to her step. You especially had to sell it when you had an audience.~~ **

**~~She strutted right up to the tall, strongly-built guy in the green shirt who, even with his back to her, was clearly the man that Chuck had described. She reached up to briefly tap him twice on the shoulder in quick succession and then threw her arms around him as he turned around. Casey's entire body stiffened instinctively. Loren recognised the tension instantly.~~ **

**~~"I'm here for Operation Bartowski," she said quickly, but quietly before he pile drove her into the floor, without moving away. He was a lot taller than she was, but her voice still reached him.~~ **

**~~He relaxed only slightly. "Word of advice, sister; do that again without warning and you could end up inside one of these freezers."~~ **

**~~"Somebody's paranoid," said Loren lightly. "I was just trying to sell it. In case you haven't noticed, we happen to have an audience."~~ **

**~~Casey glanced over to the Nerd Herd desk without moving his head and saw that Chuck and Morgan were indeed still watching intently. Chuck looked positively gleeful by the spectacle. Casey growled under his breath. Great. He really did hate this assignment.~~ **

**~~He grabbed Loren by the shoulders and awkwardly pushed her back to arm's length. "Yeah, well, show's over."~~ **

**~~Amusement flickered across Loren's face. She originally hadn't been overly impressed when she'd learnt that the primary part of her mission was to play house, though of course, orders were orders. But something told her that this was going to be more entertaining than she'd thought. Grouchy guys were always the most fun to mess with. And if there was one thing she loved, it was to push people's buttons.~~ **

**~~"Too bad," she said in a singsong voice. "I'm sure they would have liked a good show."~~ **

**~~Casey rewarded her with one of his best death stares. "Firstly, this isn't a game. This is a top priority operation. Secondly, you haven't even given me a name, let alone shown any ID. How do I know you're legit?"~~ **

**~~"You ask every girl for proof of identification on a first date?" Loren joked coyly. "General Beckman didn't say anything about having to win you over first. If this is top priority, then shouldn't I get to sit down with the whole team for introductions?"~~ **

**~~"Fine," grunted Casey, glancing over towards Chuck and Morgan again and snatching Loren's hand none-too-gently. "If you want the whole team, then you'll get the whole team."~~ **

**~~Though too far away to actually hear anything, Chuck and Morgan were still watching the exchange from the Nerd Herd desk - Morgan in amazement and Chuck more in amusement. It was definitely fun watching the Casey in his _un_ natural habitat. Sometimes being knee-deep in the spy business had its perks.~~ **

**~~"Are you kidding me?" Morgan exclaimed in disbelief. "She's with _Casey_?"~~ **

**~~"I don't know what to tell you, buddy. Casey's life is just one giant secret," said Chuck knowingly.~~ **

**~~"So you haven't met her before?" Morgan pressed.~~ **

**~~"Nope. First time," replied Chuck, knowing that as much honesty as possible was the safest way to keep from being caught out. Then he remembered that the lie was supposed to entail this new woman being one of Sarah's friends. Oh, man, you'd think he'd have gotten the hang of this by now. "But, err, she's one of Sarah's friends, actually. She only just got back into town."~~ **

**~~Morgan bought the bluff easily. "Sarah does have the hottest friends," he agreed dreamily, remembering secret agent Carina who'd caused quite a stir the last time she'd visited. His face then changed abruptly. "Wait, don't tell me that means you might have to double date with John Casey?"~~ **

**~~"Group date actually," Chuck corrected. "Ellie's cooking dinner for all of us on Friday."~~ **

**~~"You mean she's actually letting Casey back into the house after the pizza delivery guy fiasco?"~~ **

**~~Chuck was sure that particular incident was going to go down in history with the reputation it was getting. "My sister, the godsend," he confirmed.~~ **

**~~"Amen to that."~~ **

**~~Morgan trailed off from making one of his usual inappropriate comments about Chuck's sister as Casey stomped over to the desk, a face like thunder, pulling a seemingly entertained Loren along behind him. He completely ignored Morgan and addressed Chuck only. "Yoghurt time. Now."~~ **

**~~"Err, actually, Chuck was gonna take his first break with me at eleven," Morgan piped up.~~ **

**~~Casey treated him with one of his trademark glares in response. "I said it's yoghurt time," he repeated dangerously.~~ **

**~~"Or, y'know, having my break by myself is fun too," Morgan added hastily.~~ **

**~~"Sorry, buddy," Chuck apologised over his shoulder as Casey forcibly pushed him away from the Nerd Herd desk. "We'll sync our lunches instead."~~ **

**~~"Move it or lose it, Bartowski," Casey ordered, giving him another shove with his free hand.~~ **

**~~"Just once, would it kill you to ask nicely?" Chuck pointed out.~~ **

**~~"Probably."~~ **

**~~Loren noted the whole exchange with amused interest as she allowed herself to be dragged along. So this blunt exterior was supposedly normal for her new 'boyfriend'. Oh, this was so going to be fun. Maybe this assignment wouldn't be quite the drag that she'd originally anticipated when she'd first gotten the call from General Beckman.~~ **

**~~They crossed the car park within the strip mall and Casey released both of them once they were inside Orange, Orange. The small establishment was empty besides Sarah, who was stood behind the cold counter, cleaning the already pristine metal surface with a yellow jiffy cloth. She looked up in momentary confusion that was quickly replaced by wariness when she spied Loren.~~ **

**~~"What's going on?"~~ **

**~~"Our new team mate," said Casey gruffly, pushing Loren forward. "Apparently."~~ **

**~~Loren didn't seem at all fazed by the rough treatment. "I wasn't made aware of how friendly the welcoming committee was," she commented wryly.~~ **

**~~"That's just Casey; I wouldn't take it personally," Chuck helpfully cut in.~~ **

**~~Casey ignored him, like he tended to at least five times a day. "Well, now that you have the whole team present, as you requested... How do you like your eggs?"~~ **

**~~"Sunny side up with wholegrain toast," Loren replied without batting an eyelid.~~ **

**~~Chuck, however, was feeling thoroughly lost. He frowned at Casey. "Was that supposed to be some kind of weird, breakfast related pick-up line?"~~ **

**~~"It's code, moron," said Casey with a slight eye roll. "It's a way to identify yourself, agreed by the higher-ups, without attracting any attention from civilians."~~ **

**~~"Which I just did perfectly," Loren declared confidently. She then winked at Casey. "Though FYI, whilst we're on the subject of breakfast, a glass of champagne on the side never goes amiss." Casey merely grunted in reply, which only amused her more. "So... What do I get for passing my test?"~~ **

**~~Casey continued to grumble something unintelligible, so Sarah decided to step up herself. "How about access to the fridge?"~~ **

**~~Loren raised her eyebrows sceptically. "The fridge?"~~ **

**~~"It's actually a lot cooler than it sounds," Chuck added.~~ **

**~~Loren's eyebrows rose even higher. "I hope you mean that as an actual fact and not just some bad pun."~~ **

**~~It was fact. Access to the fridge actually meant access to everything. Sarah keyed in the code on the electronic keypad and the large, reinforced refrigerator door swung open to reveal a metal staircase leading down to an assembly of secret rooms that was known collectively amongst the team as Castle. Castle was the base of their entire operation.~~ **

**~~Loren whistled, impressed. Most undercover operations tended to run from a secret base. As a fellow agent, she'd seen quite a few of them. Depending of the importance of the operation at hand, some of them hadn't exactly been the best - one of the more infamous ones she'd had the particular displeasure of working from had been in an out of order marked Port-a-Potty block - whereas others had been much more high tech. She was pleased to note that Castle was definitely one of the high tech ones. "Not too shabby."~~ **

**~~The heavy door closed securely behind them with a loud clunk as Casey was last into the base. He followed them down the short staircase and got straight to business, stopping in front of Loren with his hand out, palm facing upwards. "Now that we're out of the public eye; your identification."~~ **

**~~"A please wouldn't kill you," Loren commented, though she obligingly produced her ID card and held it up, ignoring Casey's resounding growl. "Satisfied now?"~~ **

**~~"Not yet." Casey tore the laminated card from her fingers and inspected it closely before holding it up to the light fitting fixed above them for further inspection.~~ **

**~~Loren was used to agents being paranoid - it wasn't exactly surprising when you dealt in secrets for a living - but even for a fellow spy, this was total overkill. She looked uncertainly towards Chuck and Sarah. "Is he for real?"~~ **

**~~"That depends on your definition of real," said Chuck. "Real as in physically existing on this plain? Sure. Real live human being, however, we're still uncertain. I'm personally hovering over Skynet cyborg..."~~ **

**~~Loren rewarded him with an amused half smile. "Are we talking good Arnie or bad Arnie?"~~ **

**~~"Again, still undecided."~~ **

**~~As he did around eighty-nine percent of the time, Casey ignored Chuck, his attention still focused on Loren's ID card. "Loren McQueen. I've heard of you." He didn't say it favourably.~~ **

**~~"Who hasn't?" said Loren lightly, unfazed by the underlying accusation behind his comment.~~ **

**~~"Um, isn't being a secret agent the kind of job where your reputation _shouldn't_ precede you?" Chuck pointed out. "Y'know, what with the whole 'secret' part."~~ **

**~~"Generally, that is the case," Loren agreed with a shrug. "At the NSA, people rarely know any stories about you. Mine just so happened to spread around."~~ **

**~~"Because you were a wild card," Casey said shortly, thrusting the ID tag back at Loren. To her credit, she managed to catch it neatly. "You caused a lot of trouble for being so unorthodox. It's nothing to be proud of."~~ **

**~~"See, I always preferred the term 'non-conventional'," Loren responded easily.~~ **

**~~"Non-conventional? The incident in Missouri was a lot worse than that."~~ **

**~~"Missouri? You mean the hostage situation in Forest Park?" Sarah looked towards Loren. "Even I heard about that and I only transferred in from the CIA recently."~~ **

**~~"It wasn't as bad as people made out," Loren replied offhandedly.~~ **

**~~"Six civilians were injured, including the president," Casey pointed out.~~ **

**~~"Oh, he was _fine_. Toenails grow back," Loren insisted. "Well... At least they do if you still have that part of your toe attached."~~ **

**~~Chuck shot an alarmed look at Sarah, but Casey cut across all of them. "You apparently have trouble taking orders and that is _not_ what we need. Why Beckman decided to assign you on this operation, I have no idea."~~ **

**~~"Well, guess what? She _did_ assign me here," Loren bristled, showing the first sign of irritation. Whereas she often took pleasure in striving to purposely annoy people, she didn't see why her reputation was so relevant to Casey's attitude problem. It was true that she wasn't a particularly conventional agent, but that didn't mean that she wasn't good at her job. "So whether or not you approve, I don't really care. General Beckman chose me for this and it's her call. I'm gonna be here for a while, so you may as well get used to it and drop this whole grump factor you've got going on."~~ **

**~~"If it's any consolation, he has that going on all the time," Chuck input helpfully. This time, everyone ignored him.~~ **

**~~"I don't particularly want to be here either. I can't say that playing house is really my idea of a mission," said Loren dryly. "But I've been given a job and I'll do it. So a little professionalism please."~~ **

**~~Casey grumbled, but he seemed at least a little mollified by that. If there was one thing he could abide by within his line of work, it was professionalism. "Fine." He grudgingly held out his hand in an unwilling attempt at reconciliation. "Major John Casey."~~ **

**~~Loren eyed his outstretched hand, all irritation now gone. Her voice took on its usual light tone again, bemused once more over her success of breaking through to him just that tiny bit. "I thought our cover was that of a couple. Forget this shaking hands business... How about we kiss and make up instead?"~~ **

**~~Casey dropped his hand and responded with a trademark glare. "I'm going back to work," he growled shortly before storming out.~~ **

**~~Loren turned to see that both Chuck and Sarah's eyes were now on her. "I said a little professionalism; not a lot," she said innocently.~~ **

**~~"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'don't poke the bear'?" Chuck asked sceptically.~~ **

**~~Loren grinned. "Please. I'm just getting started."~~ **


End file.
